NEW BRITAIN - A Barkhamsted man will appear in Superior Court this morning on charges of threatening the life of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

John Montysko, 59, of 6 Swanson Road, was arrested Friday and charged with threatening and inciting injury to a person as well as possession of illegal weapons after State Police say he posted a threat against Malloy on a local television news station's website.

Upon searching his home Friday, police said they found an array of illegally possessed weapons, including an AK-47, a weapon that would have been illegal even before the state's recently-strengthened gun control laws.

On the same day, Montysko posted a link on Facebook to the story, which focused on how a man had doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire in Willimantic on April 13, and told people to open the article and "look at my two comments at the bottom."

According to the news station, their staff was notified of the comment by police after concerned viewers contacted law enforcement regarding the threat.

While the offending comment, which was not released by state police, has been removed from the station's website, another comment bearing Montysko's name read "Yea I use my real name so maybe the coward will come see me!"

Other comments which referenced the removed message also remained, including one by "Theboss11" that read, "You seem like a very unstable person who has many weapons. Threating (sic) the Governor, not smart at all."

According to State Police spokesman Lt. J Paul Vance, Montysko made the offending comment anonymously but was later tracked down by police through the use of their computer crimes unit.

During the meeting at Torrington City Hall, Malloy was surrounded by a security detail throughout the hour that he took public questions, with Torrington Police officers placed at entrances to the building, where those attending the event were not allowed to bring in bags. However, it remains unclear if security was increased at all due to Montysko's threat as Andrew Doba, Malloy's director of communications, said that the administration generally does not comment on the governor's security detail.

Montysko has also made numerous comments to the Register Citizen's website over the past few months, including several on gun control-related articles stating how, even with his "spotless record," he would "not obey this law."

"I will be just as proud to become a felon because I will not bow down to these arrogent (sic) so called dudley do rights that want my freedoms. Come and try me see how it works out for you," wrote Montysko on a March 5 article about lawmakers recommending additional gun control restrictions.

Images of Montysko holding an assault rifle, along with images of several guns in his possession, have since been removed from his Facebook page, but not from his YouTube account profile, which was empty of video uploads as of Sunday evening.